Monthly Archives: September 2016

On the 29th of September, Renewtec visited the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) in Petten.

The visit was part of the bioSNG technology inventory Renewtec AB is doing on behalf of an industrial client. The MILENA gasification process, the OLGA tar removal, and the ESME methanation were discussed in detailed and updates on the Alkmaar demonstration project (ambigo) were given.

The 6th Nordic Biogas Conference, NBC 2016, took place 7-9 September on the Viking Grace cruiser. The advantages with a LNG powered ship became evident when the cruiser went silently and with clean exhaust gases through the Swedish and the Finnish archipelagos.

Approx. 135 participants and 8 exhibitors took part in this biennial event. The main take aways were:

The biogas production is increasing in all five Nordic countries.

For the first time ever biomethane through gasification and methanation of woody biomass was included in the biogas statistics (GoBiGas contributed with 1 GWh to the Swedish biogas production in 2014).

There are several interesting projects related to new substrates. One project focused on the marine organism Ciona and another one on kraft mill fibre sludge.

The European Biogas Association stressed the need for a European roadmap for biogas and the possibility for cross-border trading.

One presenter emphasized that as long as biogas is a marginal player in the energy system the politicians will not make any substantial committment to promote it.

The presentation by Renewtec on behalf of the European Biogas Association may be the solution to the last bullet point. There are several ways to produce renewable methane besides anaerobic digestion/upgrading. Gasification/methanation and Power-to-gas are two other options. When these three sectors make a joint effort, we will no longer talk about a marginal player but an industry with potential to decarbonize the energy system to a large extent.